Popular weedkiller Roundup on trial again as cancer victims demand justice

Cancer has taken an unrelenting toll on 72-year-old Mike Langford. After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in 2007 he suffered through five recurrences despite multiple rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Now he struggles with chemo-related neuropathy in his arms and legs, and new tests show the cancer is back.

Langford blames his cancer on his longtime use of the popular weed-killing product Roundup, which he applied countless times over decades using a backpack sprayer around his five-acre California property and a vacation lake home. He alleges in a lawsuit that Monsanto, the longtime Roundup maker now owned by the German company Bayer AG, should have warned of a cancer risk.

Still, the latest series of trials threaten to rattle investors again, especially if Bayer loses significantly large verdicts, said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Tom Claps.

The cases largely hinge on conflicting scientific views about the safety of Roundup, and on the interpretation of internal Monsanto documents that plaintiffs say show wide-ranging corruption and collusion with regulators but which Bayer says are being taken out of context.

Many scientists say the weight of scientific evidence does show a cancer association, just as IARC concluded. They also point out that many of the studies the EPA relies on were studies produced by Monsanto.

The trial currently under way in St Louis involves three plaintiffs: Cheryl Davis, 70, who has suffered through two bouts with follicular lymphoma her doctors have told her is considered incurable; 65-year-old Marty Cox, a retired US army veteran diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; and 75-year-old Gary Gentile who also has been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma.

Each alleges their cancers developed as a result of their use of Roundup products at their residences.

Missouri resident Nathanial Evans, 32, also will face Monsanto in court soon. Evans started working as a landscaper after graduating from high school, using Roundup QuikPro, a blend of glyphosate and a chemical called diquat. He was diagnosed with NHL at the age of 26. His trial is scheduled for 31 October.

In San Diego, plaintiff Frank Johnson is luckier than others. He was diagnosed with NHL in 2014 at the age of 46 after using Roundup on his residential property starting in 2006. He underwent four rounds of chemotherapy, and has been cancer-free since 2015.

As part of its plan to try to limit future lawsuits, Bayer has said it will stop selling glyphosate herbicides in the US consumer market starting next year.

* This story is co-published with the New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group. Carey Gillam is managing editor of the New Lede and the author of two books addressing glyphosate: Whitewash (2017); and The Monsanto Papers (2021).